Oz Central Petroleum's Full Year Revenue Up 10%

Sydney-listed Central Petroleum said on July 31 its sales revenue in the 12 months to June 30 increased 9.6% yr/yr to a record A$65mn (US$47mn) thanks to the commissioning of the Northern Gas pipeline in January 2019.

For the full year, sales volumes were 14% higher at 12.34 petajoules equivalent (PJE) compared with the 10.8 PJE sold in FY2019. “The FY2020 year was the first full year to benefit from the commissioning of the Northern Gas pipeline in January 2019, although sales volumes in the final two quarters of FY2020 have been impacted by the significant downturn in market conditions,” the company said.

Total sales revenue during the three months to June 30 (Q4) was A$14mn, down 8.1% quarter on quarter. Total sales volume in Q4 was 2.53 PJE, down 4.7% quarter on quarter, Central said.

“The June 2020 quarterly results reflect very weak oil and gas markets which became visible in our March quarter. An oversupplied spot gas market and historically low oil prices impacted as-available sales volumes and realised unit prices over the quarter,” CEO Leon Devaney said.

He said over 96% of Q4 gas sales came from fixed-price, take-or-pay, term gas supply contracts which provided enough cash flow after debt service to cover the company’s operating and corporate costs.

“We expect weak spot and as-available gas markets to continue through 2020 but see the market for firm, long-term gas sales being resilient, particularly in relation to gas supply from 2022. This is important as we market uncontracted reserves and align our major growth activities with this market recovery,” Devaney said.

Last week, Central announced a 16% upgrade of proved and probable (2P) oil and gas reserves across its three producing fields in the Northern Territory.